My basic Shop Plan

I have been taking stock of what I have in my shop and what tools I can purge. I think I have come up with a clear plan for my shop organization and planning. There are a few key areas I will be focusing on.

My slat wall (I know most people use a peg board but someone gave me a beautiful slat wall).

My table saw / workbench.

My lathe and laser engraver wall with storage

Here is a rough idea of my current shop layout:

I think knowing what I have and doing an inventory of my hardware and tools first will give me a better idea of how best to layout my shop so in the next few days that is what I will try to focus on. I have a few workbenches that have drawers for storage but they have really been turning into a catchall for whatever I have on top of my workbench. I will need to clean them out and really find a home for everything.

I will basically take my shop and cut it up into thirds to try to make the process move a little smoother. I will start with my main walkway. That is where I have a few workbenches and my slat storage wall and chop saw. The problem I have with my slat wall is that I only have peg board hardware and every time I remove a tool the hardware falls off as well. So hopefully I can come up with a better system to get everything secure and cleaned up. The issue I have with my chop saw is it sits a little proud of the two workbenches on either side of it so I will need to shim up the benches to make everything flush. There is also a drill press that sits a little low so I think I will replace that stand to put everything on the same level.

When it comes to my table saw and large workbench what I really need to do is just get rid of one of my table saws (yes I have 2). When I pair them down to just one and replace the current stand and maybe build a better top and fence that should be all I should do for that section.

Finally, I will tackle my lathe and laser engraver. I haven’t been able to use my lathe or even my laser engraver easily because I have the kids bikes and some yard equipment in my second walkway. I hope to get a small shed outside my shop to store these items to make a little more room in my shop. Then I’ll be able to run some electric over to that wall so all the tools that are stationary are plugged in an ready to go so I won’t have to run extension cords all over the shop.

That is my basic plan. If I stick to a schedule I should be able to get everything done quickly and easily but only time will tell.